Doc Rivers: I Wish I Could Repair Relationships Between Ray Allen, Former Celtics 🍀

There’s no question that the Boston Celtics’ core unit of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo was a formidable quartet on the court — the group won 66 games and an NBA Finals in its first year together after Boston stumbled to just 24 wins the season before. The group’s streak of five straight Atlantic Division titles came to an end after Allen took his talents to South Beach to join LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to create the NBA’s hottest “core four” unit.

The decision to leave Boston created a rift between Allen and his former teammates, many of whom don’t speak to Allen to this day. Former Celtics coach Doc Rivers told The Athletic’s Jay King he wished there was more he could do to mend the relationship:

Doc Rivers said he “hates” seeing the fracturing of the 2008 Celtics championship team. “If I had one wish, I wish I could do a better job of getting that team back together.”

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) September 4, 2018

Allen, the current all-time leader in 3-pointers made, told The Athletic’s Shams Charania that he doesn’t expect to receive any congratulatory messages from his former Celtics teammates when he’s inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.

RELATED: Ray Allen Disappointed That Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce Still Won’t Talk to Him